PopTarts in England

When we were stationed overseas in England, I was surprised to learn that they don't celebrate Halloween in England like we Americans do. Meaning, they don't do the costumes and go trick-or-treating. From what I could tell, only adults dressed up ghoulishly for parties, but I never saw any of the cutesy stuff our kids wear. So for our first Halloween in England, we did what all the other American families did- we took our kids trick-or-treating at the nearest American base housing neighborhood. The one closest to us was in the town of Ely. The English families who knew about Halloween, who lived near enough, piled their kids into the car and took them to the Ely American military base housing for candy as well. Those poor good-natured folks living there got inundated.

So I was surprised when, late Halloween night about 10:00pm, I got a knock on my  front door. I opened it to find three awkward-looking teenagers from our little village standing there.

"Hello...", I said, "Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes, ah, are you American?" asked the boldest of the three standing there.

"Yes, I am...." I was still confused as to why they were standing on my doorstep.

The bold one then politely asked me if I happened to have any sweets. Then it dawned on me-
"Oh! Are you trick-or-treating?" I asked.

They brightened up and said yes. I wasn't expecting trick-or-treaters AT ALL, so I didn't have any candy available to give them. But I didn't want them to be disappointed, either. We were the only Americans living in our village of about 2400 people, and we were about 45 minutes from the base. So I told the kids to hold on for a second, and I ran back into the kitchen to find something suitable to give them. I brought back a box of Pop Tarts. I apologized for not having any candy, and offered each teen a foil packet of Pop Tarts. They asked what the packets were, and I tried to explain it was a sort of pastry. That seemed to please them, and one said it sounded brilliant. I then tried to explain (nicely) that when we go trick-or-treating, we do it earlier, and we wear costumes.

"Right! Thanks! Cheers! " they said, and off they went with their Pop Tarts.

The next Halloween, I took my kids trick-or-treating as usual to the Ely housing, but made sure I had some good candy at home if those kids came by. And they did. The doorbell rang about 9:30 pm that night, and there were the same three teenagers, still standing awkwardly on my front doorstep. One had drawn on a mustache with an eyeliner pencil. I praised the mustache effort, and handed them the candy, but they didn't have a bag or anything to hold it in, so I ran and got them each a plastic grocery bag. I put the candy in their bags, and then the bold one said, "Do you, ah, happen to have any more of those lovely pastires like last year?"

Well, of course I did, so I got the Pop Tart box and put a packet into each of their bags. They wanted to know where I got them, and I explained I shopped for American groceries at the military commissary on the RAF base, about 45 minutes away. Then I gently explained that if they wanted to do trick-or-treating correctly, they still needed to come earlier, and everyone needed to be in costume, and that they had to say "trick or treat" when I answer the door.

"Right! Brilliant! Cheers!"they said as they walked off to explore their candy.

The next year I was ready for them. The doorbell rang at about 9pm, and there were five teenagers standing there- the three original boys plus two girls. The girls both had headbands with cat's ears on them, plus they had drawn kitty whiskers on their faces. One of the boys had a pillowcase over his head.

"Trick or treat?" they said.

I praised their efforts, gave them bunches of American candy, and a brand new whole box of Pop Tarts. They had brought bags this time, and the boy with the pillowcase took it off his head and used it as a bag. Now they were getting the hang of it! As I was filling their bags, the boys looked at the girls and one said ,"I TOLD you!" I reminded them to come earlier next year and to try harder on the costumes.

"Right! Thanks! Cheers!" they said, and headed off, perhaps to the pub, because they were maybe old enough by then. They came back the next two Halloweens, and their group size grew each year. I always had Pop Tarts handy and tons of American candy ready for them. I wonder what the next person who moved into our house thought when we moved back to America!